Film has been a critical dynamo in the formation of cultural memories of the Holocaust over the past generation. Yet for too long the impact of these works has been presumed or speculated. This innovative book provides a much-needed exploration of the complex ways in which Holocaust films and their viewers intersect and interact. Skilfully employing tools from social and cultural studies, Rauch demonstrates how ‘a grounded theory of Holocaust film reception’ brings new insights and lines of enquiry. As much as Rethinking Holocaust Film Reception enriches our understanding of Holocaust memory in Britain, it forwards a template with broader applicability - opening up fronts for similar research elsewhere and posing new questions about the interplay between memory, education, and representation.

Andy Pearce, University College London, Associate Professor

Rauch’s study on the reception of Holocaust films offers unique insights in how individual viewers relate to various type of knowledge on the Holocaust and it raises key questions for future Holocaust education. Perceptive and stimulating, this book will be an essential resource for researchers, teachers and students interested in visual representations of the Holocaust

Franciska Louwagie, University of Leicester

This is a fascinating and unique study of the reception of Holocaust films by actual viewers. It draws on detailed interviews conducted by the author, with very varied findings that often give revealing and unexpected correctives to those of film critics and educators. By supplying this ground-breaking angle on Holocaust cinema, Stefanie Rauch’s book promises to change the way we think about learning, commemoration and the films themselves, which range from such well-known works as The Reader, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Conspiracy, to the less familiar Defiance and The Grey Zone. The book carefully elucidates the role of Holocaust memory in Britain while offering an innovative model for approaching questions about audiences’ real responses in other national settings.

Sue Vice, Professor of English Literature, The University of Sheffield